23. Eri refuses treatment from the school nurse, Tae, after being completely seen through about her jealousy about the latter’s fondness for “Hario.” This proves costly later when she loses the class relay competition due to the strain of the untreated minor injury from saving Harima’s pride during the “horseback competition” in the previous episode. To pay his debt of honour to Eri, Harima promises to win the boy’s relay for the class on her behalf. He does so against the odds after weak starts by the first guy and Imadori but his cap comes off, exposing his baldness. Eri gets him to dance with him, creating a huge sensation in the school.
Another display of muleheaded pride and hubris from Eri during her confrontation with Tae - the latter who showed herself to be the more perceptive, mature and honest person leading to even more hurt pride and unhappiness. This episode made Eri an even more interesting character for me but not any hotter or more likeable. I quite like how Harima and Eri have nicknames for each other (Hige or beard for the former and Ojou or princess for the latter) which are meant to be disdainful or sarcastic but end up sounding quite endearing.